WE DON’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR 2008
It is fall, 2007. George Bush is supposed to leave office after the 2008 elections, and there are several excellent candidates. The question is: What can we do NOW?
Some are already working for Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, or another candidate, and that’s great. But others will say let’s wait until we know the Democratic nominee. That wastes our advantage – time. Time is even more precious than money in a political campaign. We have ideas and people to organize around now. There are many things we can do now that will help redirect and rebuild our country and our world.
@ Work for any of the Democratic candidates helps build our future, especially since all the candidates now are mostly discussing their ideas and qualifications, rather than attacking each other. You’ve probably heard from the candidates. For reference, their web sites are hillaryclinton.com, barackobama.com, johnedwards.com, and richardsonforpresident.com.
Personally, I think the next president will probably be one of those four. I like all of them, and others are good, too.
@ Work in the 2007 campaign. The Democratic statewide judge candidates are important this fall, and excellent. There’s Debra Todd and Seamus McCaffery for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. There’s Christine Donohue, Ron Folino, and John Younge for Superior Court. All have proven records of caring about people, all are solidly pro-choice and supporters of the rights of the lesbian and gay communities. Work in their campaigns is preparation for the 2008 campaign as well as good experience.
There’s a little time to register voters. Registration forms must be received at the county Department of Elections by 5 pm Oct. 9. You can pick up blank forms from most state stores, the Elections Office in the County Office Building, or from me.
@ You can hold a house party on an issue (as well as for a candidate).
Organizations which have been working on issues, in the teeth of a hostile administration, would be happy to provide a speaker. Possibilities include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 412-681-7736, the Thomas Merton Center 412-361-3022, especially on Iraq and other peace issues, the Sierra Club 412-802-6161, on environmental issues, Pennsylvanians United for Single-payer Healthcare (PUSH) 412-431-2075, Just Harvest 412-431-8960, on economic justice, Planned Parenthood 412-434-8957×119 on reproductive rights, and Disability Voting Coalition 412-391-5225x#2132 on barriers to voting. This is not an exhaustive list of possibilities (exhausting, maybe).
The hard part of a house party is doing the invitations. Your invitation list needs to be ten times the number of people you expect, believe it or not. That’s with a written invitation and a follow-up phone call. Don’t worry about the size of your apartment.
@ As you know, fundraising is well underway for all the candidates, and they’re looking for little donors as well as the big ones. You also might raise some money for groups like Emily’s List, www.emilyslist.org, which has been in the forefront of raising money for pro-choice Democrats
@ There are possibilities for fun. You could have a poetry reading. Lots of local poets (including me) will share their poems with anyone who might listen. There is music, classical or folk. You might have a speaker on history about the context of the messes we’re in. You could show a movie – PUSH is getting copies of the DVD of “Sicko,” for example.
Others will have more and better ideas – I’m not a “fun” person.
Contact me with questions, criticisms, or any ideas you have, jon@jonrobison.org or 412-683-0237. Remember, the only thing you can do wrong is to do nothing.